Electric knife-switch.



No, 868,704. PATENTED OCT. 22, 1907,

O. ROTHENSTEIN.,

ELECTRIC KNIFE SWTGH,

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 4, 1502.

3 SHEETS-SHEET l,

IEL o 30 No. 868,704l ATENTED OCT. 22, N07.

` 0. RTHBNSTEIN.

ELECTRIC KNIFE SWITCHs APPLIUATIGN FILED SEPT.4,1902.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

lz-Ik l 37 44464 WITNESS/5S: /N VENTOH a@ f/mf@ 747 My O. ECTIIENSTEIN.

ELECTRIC KNIFE SWITCH.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 4, 1902.

BSHEETS-SEEET 3,

I IEEE@ OTTO ROTHENSTEIN, OF PITTSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA.

E LE CTRIC *KNIFE-SWITCH.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 22, 1907.

Application filed September 4,1902. Serial No. 122,146.

To all whom 'it may concern:

Be it known that I, OTTO ROTHENSTEIN, a citizen of the Empire of Austria, residing at Pittsburg, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Electric Knife-Switches, of which improvement the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in electric switches and particularly to what are commonly called knife switches.

One ofthe principal requisites in a switch of this sort is that it shall break circuit quickly. Another is that any of its parts may be readily replaced by new ones should they be burned or broken, also to enable this interchange of parts to be made without the necessity of soldering.

With these objects in view the invention consists in the construction, and combination of parts substantially as hereinafter shown described and claimed.`

In the accompanying drawings which form a part of this specification, Figures l, 2 and 3 illustrate my invention as embodied in a single-throw knife switch. Figs. 4, 5 and 6 illustrate my invention as embodied in a double-throw knife switch. Figs; 7, 8, 9 and l0 illustrate in perspective several different modes of securing the jaws of the switch to their support. Figs. ll and l2 illustrate in perspective wedging keys by which said jaws are held in place. Figs. 13 and 14 illustrate the form of construction and manner of securing in place multiple jaws. Figs. l5 and I6 illustrate in plan the wedges for securing said jaws in place. Fig. 17 illustrates the pivotal post to which the lever for throwing the knife is attached.

Referring first to Figs. l to 3, IS represents the base of the switch which is preferably of slate. Upon this is mounted a post 19, to which the operating lever 20 is pivoted.

A pair of jaws as 2l, 22, are secured to the base I8, by stud bolts having suitable nuts on their lower ends as represented by means of which circuit connection to the switch may be made in the usual manner.

'lhe knife of this switch is represented at 23, asresting in the jaws 2l and 22. This knife consists of a plate of any suitable metal, and is provided at its ends with notches 24, as shown. These notches are intended for engagement with a pin 25, secured in the lever 20. rlhis lever preferably consists of two plates between which said pin passes and between which the shank 2G of the handle is secured.

The plates forming the lever 2O are preferably provided witli a shoulder for the reception of the pin 25, as clearly seen in Figs. l and 2. Said plates also have depending therefrom projections as 27, in position to enter between the jaws 2l, 22, on either side of the knife 23, thereby forming guides for said knife.

Between the knife and the lever 20 are spiral springs 28, one on either side of said knife. These are connected to a post as 29, which passes through the knife and to a post as 30, which passes through the plates forming the lever 20. These springs, it will be noted, hold the knife' into engagement with the p'in 25 and provides for the quick break sought for in this forni of switch.

It will be noticed that the notch 24, which is in cngagement with the pin 25, is elongated and so formed that said pin may be raised some distance by the movement of the lever l20 before it produces any effect upon the knife; also that the springs 28 are of such tension, and the grip of the jaws upon the knife is of such force, that the knife will not start from the jaws until the lover 2() hasbeen raised to a height sufficiently above the jaws 22 to cause the knife to leave the jaw completely and at a jerk when 'it is finally started by the tension of the spring. In the return of the knife to the jaws the pin 25 and the pin 30 pressing on the top thereof serve to scat it.

The knife 23 is preferably constructed so that it may be reversed end for end and also edge for edge. For this purpose it is provided at each end with a notch 24, and also with a hole 3l through it for the receptionof the pin 29 when reversed end for end. y

A double-throw switch may be formed upon substantially the same lines as the single-tlnow-s\vitch above described; so also may a double pole switch be formed upon substantially these same lines. -In Figs. 4, 5 and 6 these ideas are exemplified with slight modifications in the forni of attachment to the operating lever. ln said figures two sets of jaws 2l, 22, are located upon one end of a suitable base 18@ and two corresponding sets of jaws 32, 33, are mounted upon the opposite end of said base I8', and between these sets of jaws are mounted posts 34, 35, to which the operating lover is hinged. Said lever is formed of a pair of plates 3U, at post 34, and a like pair 37, at post 35. Joining these plates is a cross'head 38 of insulating material which is secured to the innermost plates of said pairs by means of lugs projecting therefrom and through which into said crosshead are passed bolts as indicated.

Between the plates 36, and 37, respectively, are located knives 39 and 40. These knives are mounted by a sliding connection between the plates 36 and 37 respectively, and are further secured to said plates by means of springs 4l in substantially the manner described, with respect tothe single knife switch, that is, a pin as 29 passes through the knives 39 and 40, to which said springs il are connected, while the opposite ends of said springs are connected to the plates 36 and 37 by means of pins 42, which pass through the ends of each plate of each pair 36 and 37, and through clips struck up vfrom said plates and bent forward to receive the outer ends of said pins.

Connected to the cross-head 3S is the operating handle 43, which may be of any suitable form. As a substitute for the notch 24, by which lost motion may be provided between the lever and the knife, a triangular opening as 43 is made in the end of said knife (see Fig. 6) in which is located a triangular block 44, mounted upon the pivot 45, which extends through the pair of plates 36 in one instance, and 37 in the other. Each end of l the knife blade is provided with a triangular opening so as to enable the knife to be reversed as described in connecltion with the single throw switch. The operation of this switch is substantially the same as that of the single switch.

' The pivotal posts I9, 34, 35, maybe made from pieces of stamped metal in substantially the manner illustrated in Fig. l7, wherein two angle plates as 46, 47, are stamped from sheet metal and secured together upon a base-piece 48, which may likewise be stamped from sheet metal, the parts being secured together by the bolts which hold the post to the base-piece and by the .pivots which hold the operating levers to the post.

The improved construction of jaws, to which reference has already been made, consists in securing them either in one or two pieces within a suitable block or stamping which in turn is secured by"'a stud-bolt or screws in the usual manner to the base-plate.

Referring to Figs.l '7 to 16, various modes of securing the jaws in their respective blocks are illustrated. In Fig. 7 the block `49 is shown with a cylinder bore through its center, which opens through the top of the minal may be inserted, if desired, and clamped by means of screws 53 passed through the block and cylinder against said terminal. In Fig. 9 the jaw 54 is shown provided with an angular tube at its bend'instead of a cylindrical one, into which tube Ais forced an angular plug 55, while in Fig. l0 the jaws are shown as made up of two plates 5G formed with feet or fianges as represented, while the block is formed with a rectangular undercut channel extending longitudinally' thereof into which said feet are inserted and wedged against 'the overhang by means of wedge 57, and against the edges of said overhang by another wedge as 58.

In Fig. I3 a multiple jaw is illustrated wherein the block 59 is provided with a dove-tail slot, and the plates GO forming the jaws are obliquely bent to fit the lateral walls of the dove-tail. These plates are spaced apart by means of suitable strips 6l and tightly forced thereagainst and against the walls of the dovetail by means of the'central wedges 62.

In Fig. 14, the plates 63 forming the jaws are provided marjan with feet resting in an undercut groove in the block 64, and are spaced apart by means of strips 65 and wedged against one another and against the edges of the block by means of the central wedges 66. Wedges also as 67 are provided for holding the feet of the outermost plates 63 rmly upon the innermost of saidplates.

Obviously the various wedges above referred to may be solid or hollow, as found most expedient. In Figs. Il and l5 are shown the wedges 62 as made up of two parts with inclined faces, which are adapted to be driven into place, one from one end of the block 59, and the other from the other end, while in Figs. l2 and 16 is illustrated the manner of compounding the wedge 66 seen in Fig. 14.

The divisional lines inthe wedges of Figs. 7, 9, 13 and 14 illustrate the use ofthe compound wedges just described.

This mode of securing jaws in place enables them to` be readily replaced when worn or burned, and also provides for their initial insertion with greater ease and rapidity than in the present form of wedges ywherein they are soldered or brazed in place.

It is further obvious that the various parts of the jaws, as the blocks, plates and wedges may readily be formed of metal drawn or stamped into similar or'identical shapes. Therefore, I do not limit myself to the ex`act forms' andy shapes 'as shown in the annexed drawings. In fact various changes might be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention.

I claim as my invention I 1. In a knife blade switch, an operating lever, a separate knife, said knife having both its end portions symmetrically shaped and arranged relative to its central transverse axis, and connections betwcen'the operating lever and the end portion of the knife arranged to allow the knife to be reversed end for end; substantially as described.

2. In a knife blade switch, an operating lever, a double 'edge knife having its end portion shaped and arranged symmetrically on both sides of the longitudinal axis of the knife, and positive lost motion connections between the knife and the lever arranged to allow the knife to be reversed edge foredge; substantially as described.

il. In a knife blade switch, an operating lever, a double edge knife having its end portions shaped and symmetrically arranged relative to its central transverse axis, the

end portions being symmetrically shaped on both sides ofV the longitudinal axis of the knife, and'connections between Lhe knife and the lever arranged to allow the knife to be reversed end for end and edge for edge; substantially as described. u

4. In a knife switch, the combination with the operating lever' provided with a guide for the knife and a pin forming a loose connection between the knife and lever, of the knife provided at each end with,an opening for said piti, and a spring connecting the knife to the lever, substantialljY as set forth,

5. In a knife blade switch, a pivotcd operating' lever, a knife blade movable independently of the lever and having an elongated opening. means on-the lever engaging the opening and a spring arrangedV to hold the knife blade against said means; substantially as described.

6. In a knife switch, the combination with the operating lever provided with a pin by which a loose colnnection with the knife is formed, of a triangular collar on said pin, the knife provided with a triangular opening larger than said collar to receive said p'in and said collar, and a spring connection between said lever and 'said knife.

7. ln a knife switch, the combination with the operating lever,` formed of two plates spaced apart and provided with a handle, of a reversible knife having the ends shaped alike and mounted between and guided by said plates, jaws arranged to receive the knife and a spring connection be tween the lever and knife, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

8. In a knife switch, the combination of an operating lever. formed of plates spaced apart and provided with a handle, a reversibl(` knife located between and guided by the plates and having;l its ends shaped alike and provided with triangular openings, a pivot pin extending through one of the triangular openings and supported upon the plates, a triangular bleek mounted upon thevpin and received within the triangular opening, jaws arranged to receive 10 the knife, and a. spring connection between the lever and the knife.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto signed my name in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

OTTO ROTHENSTEIN. In the presence M TUwl-:IN GAnIcK, B. MENCZEK. 

